


Rewinding the Clock

by kaitlia777



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Endgame, team fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25731016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitlia777/pseuds/kaitlia777
Summary: In the Marvel world, even old age isn't a constant...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Zapped!

All those years of keeping a low profile meant Steve had avoided all of his old stomping grounds. It was unsurprisingly easy to keep clear of icebergs, but God, he’d missed New York.

Sitting at a small table of a sidewalk cafe across from Cooper Union, he let the sounds of the city flow around him. His sketchbook was out on the table, beside a cup of sweet chai, and he deftly captured the scene on the street in pencil. The super soldier serum had staved off the effects of old age and though he was a bit slower and not as strong as he’d been in his prime, he remained fit and healthy, no signs of arthritis or any other infirmity that tended to come with advanced years.

“Wow, that’s good,” the waitress said as she placed his sandwich on the table. A wave of nostalgia hit Steve and he gave her a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Miss,” he said kindly, but before he could say anything else a blue beam of light shot across the patio, knocking the cafe’s awning askew.

People cried out, ducking and running for cover. Steve leapt to his feet, herding the waitress and a pair of teenagers toward the comparative safety of the Cafe doors.

Out on the street, he saw a young man holding something that was emitting bursts of dark and light blue energy. The dark blue didn't seem to be causing any damage, but the light...just took out a hot dog cart. Oddly, the teenager was scream singing, “I DON’T WANNA GROW UP, CUZ IF I DID, I’D KNOW THE ONLY GOOD TIME IS WHEN YOU’RE A KID! YABBA DABBBA DOOOOOOOOO!”

Okay...so, mad scientist.

Great.

Without thinking, Steve snatched up a fallen serving tray and hurled it at him, the impact of the light plastic making him stumble and stop firing for a moment.

“Put it down, Son,” Steve said, standing his ground, determined to keep the kid’s focus on him until the proper authorities arrived. The street had cleared quickly, people now used to dealing with this sort of nonsense. There was no need for….

A dark blue beam hit Steve and he sighed, grabbing a table umbrella and snapping the pole free. He hefted the weight of it in his hands and flung it with precision, piercing the emitter that was producing the lights.

In retrospect, a poor choice as it then exploded. The blast knocked Steve to the ground. “Uhg, I’m getting too old for this crap,” he groaned, ears ringing as he shook his head and did a quick assessment, finding himself in better shape than expected.

Serum or not, a hard fall like that tended to leave him sore.

A high pitched wail cut through the air as Steve levered himself up off of the ground. If there was a baby, they weren’t safe from….

Huh.

Sitting in the empty street, beside the charred remains of the funny ray gun was a baby. A baby wearing a too big lab coat.

“They really needed to provide better counselling services to stressed out students to cut off all these aspiring supervillains,” he sighed, then furrowed his brow and touched his throat. His voice sounded...different and his shirt felt too tight.

“Oh my God!”

The waitress had emerged from the cafe, as had a few other civilians. She was staring at him, open mouthed and he asked, “Are you all right, Miss?”

She nodded, looking slightly dazed. “Wow...are you Captain America?”

It had been a while since anyone had made that connection and Steve blinked at her in shock before his eyes caught his reflection in an unshattered window.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.....”


	2. Reunion

“It could have gone so much worse.”

Sam gave Scott a wry look and replied, “You’re officially the team optimist.”

“Aliens invaded Disneyland Paris,” Bucky sighed. “I’ve seen a lot over the years, but that’s gonna give me nightmares.”

“Peter had fun,” Scott pointed out, then held up a stuffed pig. “Cassie has always loved Pua. I think she’ll get a kick out of this.”

Bucky considered the toy. “Peter was just excited to go to Disneyland. We should take the kid for real sometime.”

“As if that wouldn’t end in tears, a fire and someone being arrested by the Disney police,” Sam groaned. “I do not want to have some guy wearing a mouse shaped badge trying to arrest me.”

“The Disney police wouldn’t try to arrest Captain America,” Bruce said as he joined them in walking back toward the main building, as his lab was in an outbuilding not far from the landing pad. He hadn’t gone on this mission with them, but had clearly gotten Sam’s preliminary reports if the shit eating grin on his face was an indicator.

When Sam had taken up Cap’s mantle and shield (though he kept his wings, damn it, he wasn’t a super soldier!) there had been some initial confusion, but the Avenger’s new PR team (thank you, Pepper Potts) had helped with that. The newest iteration of the Avengers was quite different than past versions and the compound they were using was smaller than the one Thanos had destroyed, but more than adequate.

Currently, there were only five full time team members: Sam, Bucky, Bruce, Rhodey, Scott and Hope, but T’Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Clint, Wanda and even Strange were on world if needed, while Thor and Carol were off in space. Peter and a handful of superpowered youngsters occasionally joined them for training.

Sam got a kick out of that. Watching The Winter Soldier scurrying around after teens like a harried Border Collie while simultaneously attacking them to teach them to fight was hysterical. After some reflection, it made sense. The man had been BFFs with Steve ‘Gonna Jump Out of a Plane Without a Parachute & Never Back Down From A Fight’ Rogers for years back when the man was 90lbs and a walking asthma attack.

“I’m with Sam on this one,” Hope said with a laugh. “Taking you all to Disney together with no enemy to fight would only result in a PR nightmare. Scott, you have Nutella crepe in your hair.”

“At least the jet came back intact this time,” Bruce shrugged as Peter bounced down the ramp...face timing with Shuri. The two of them had hit it off and could often be found chatting about Shuri’s scientific advancements or Peter’s latest crime fighting adventure. “...Tigger bounced Bucky into a cotton candy vendor’s cart!” he was saying, a big grin on his face. “It was Insta worthy.”

“Photos?” she asked gleefully and Sam had to snicker a Bucky’s aggrieved grumbles.

“Of course, I...hey, who’s that?” Peter said, pointing to a figure who was seated on the stairs leading into the main building, shadows almost hiding him.

Sam’s hand tightened on the shield as Bucky tensed...but it wasn’t his “Gonna Attack!’ tense.

“Come on, I don’t look that different.”

The familiar voice made them all relax until he stood and stepped forward, all easy grace and strength. 

Steve Rogers, looking even younger than he had that day at the National Mall (not by much, but still!) stood there, an epicly annoyed expression on his face.

“This is an unexpected twist,” Bruce said, then questioned, “Time travel accident?”

A deep, weary sigh escaped Steve. “Genius Cooper Union student had a meltdown and built a...de-aging ray gun, went on a rampage, I got hit. The machine explode. Student is now a baby and I’m….”

Huh.

“You got young,” Bucky commented and oh my god, the pissy look on Steve’s face was hysterical.

“Thanks, Buck. Hadn’t noticed,” he drawled, then waved a hand over his face. “Harder to be inconspicuous now.”

Bruce stepped forward. “Come on in, Steve. I can run some tests, try to figure out how this happened.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're so inclined, feel free to come say hi over at my tumblr [HERE](http://blaineandsamevanderson.tumblr.com/) . Always nice to make fandom and shipping friends!


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